2008 Hugo Nominees

Denvention 3 has posted the 2008 Hugo nominees. (Note: The list of artworks beside each Best Professional Artist nominee provides examples of work published during the eligibility year.)

Best Novel

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)
Brasyl by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer (Tor; Analog Oct. 2006-Jan/Feb. 2007)
The Last Colony by John Scalzi (Tor)
Halting State by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit)

Best Novella

“Fountains of Age” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s July 2007)
“Recovering Apollo 8” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Asimov’s Feb. 2007)
“Stars Seen Through Stone” by Lucius Shepard (F&SF July 2007)
“All Seated on the Ground” by Connie Willis (Asimov’s Dec. 2007; Subterranean Press)
“Memorare” by Gene Wolfe (F&SF April 2007)

Best Novelette

“The Cambist and Lord Iron: a Fairytale of Economics” by Daniel Abraham (Logorrhea ed. by John Klima, Bantam)
“The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” by Ted Chiang (F&SF Sept. 2007)
“Dark Integers” by Greg Egan (Asimov’s Oct./Nov. 2007)
“Glory” by Greg Egan (The New Space Opera, ed. by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan, HarperCollins/Eos)
“Finisterra” by David Moles (F&SF Dec. 2007)

Best Short Story

“Last Contact” by Stephen Baxter (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, ed. by George Mann, Solaris Books)
“Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s June 2007)
“Who’s Afraid of Wolf 359?” by Ken MacLeod (The New Space Opera, ed. by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan, HarperCollins/Eos)
“Distant Replay” by Mike Resnick (Asimov’s May-June 2007)
“A Small Room in Koboldtown” by Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s April/May 2007; The Dog Said Bow-Wow,Tachyon Publications)

Best Related Book

The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Glyer; appendix by David Bratman (Kent State University Press)
Breakfast in the Ruins: Science Fiction in the Last Millennium by Barry Malzberg (Baen)
Emshwiller: Infinity x Two by Luis Ortiz, intro. by Carol Emshwiller, fwd. by Alex Eisenstien (Nonstop)
Brave New Words: the Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction by Jeff Prucher (Oxford University Press)
The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Enchanted Written by Bill Kelly, Directed by Kevin Lima (Walt Disney Pictures)
The Golden Compass Written by Chris Weitz, Based on the novel by Philip Pullman, Directed by Chris Weitz (New Line Cinema)
Heroes, Season 1, Created by Tim Kring (NBC Universal Television and Tailwind Productions Written by Tim Kring, Jeff Loeb, Bryan Fuller, Michael Green, Natalie Chaidez, Jesse Alexander, Adam Armus, Aron Eli Coleite, Joe Pokaski, Christopher Zatta, Chuck Kim, Directed by David Semel, Allan Arkush, Greg Beeman, Ernest R. Dickerson, Paul Shapiro, Donna Deitch, Paul A. Edwards, John Badham, Terrence O’Hara, Jeannot Szwarc, Roxann Dawson, Kevin Bray, Adam Kane
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Written by Michael Goldenberg, Based on the novel by J.K. Rowling, Directed by David Yates (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Stardust Written by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn, Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Paramount Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Battlestar Galactica “Razor” written by Michael Taylor, directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá and Wayne Rose (Sci Fi Channel) (televised version, not DVD)
Dr. Who “Blink” written by Stephen Moffat, directed by Hettie Macdonald (BBC)
Dr. Who “Human Nature” / “Family of Blood” written by Paul Cornell, directed by Charles Palmer (BBC)
Star Trek New Voyages “World Enough and Time” written by Michael Reaves & Marc Scott Zicree, directed by Marc Scott Zicree (Cawley Entertainment Co. and The Magic Time Co.)
Torchwood “Captain Jack Harkness” written by Catherine Tregenna, directed by Ashley Way (BBC Wales)

Best Professional Editor, Short Form

Ellen Datlow (The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror (St. Martin’s), Coyote Road (Viking), Inferno (Tor))
Stanley Schmidt (Analog)
Jonathan Strahan (The New Space Opera (Eos/HarperCollins), The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 1 (Night Shade), Eclipse One (NightShade)
Gordon Van Gelder (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)
Sheila Williams (Asimov’s Science Fiction)

Best Professional Editor, Long Form

Lou Anders (Pyr)
Ginjer Buchanan (Ace/Roc)
David G. Hartwell (Senior Editor, Tor/Forge)
Beth Meacham (Tor)
Patrick Nielsen Hayden (Tor)

Best Professional Artist

Bob Eggleton (Covers: To Outlive Eternity and Other Stories (Baen), Ivory (Pyr), & The Taint and Other Stories (Subterranean))
Phil Foglio (Covers: Robert Asprin’s Myth Adventures, Vol. 2 (Meisha Merlin), What’s New (Dragon Magazine Aug. 2007, Girl Genius Vol. 6-Agatha Heterodyne & the Golden Trilobite (Airship Entertainment))
John Harris (Covers: Spindrift (Ace), Horizons (Tor), The Last Colony (Tor))
Stephan Martiniere (Covers: Brasyl (Pyr), Mainspring (Tor), Dragons of Babel (Tor))
John Picacio (Covers: Fast Forward 2 (Pyr), Time’s Child (HarperCollins/Eos), A Thousand Deaths (Golden Gryphon))
Shaun Tan

Best Semiprozine

Ansible edited by David Langford
Helix edited by William Sanders and Lawrence Watt-Evans
Interzone edited by Andy Cox
Locus edited by Charles N. Brown, Kirsten Gong-Wong, & Liza Groen Trombi
The New York Review of Science Fiction, edited by Kathryn Cramer, Kristine Dikeman, David Hartwell & Kevin J. Maroney

Best Fanzine

Argentus edited by Steven H Silver
Challenger edited by Guy Lillian III
Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia
File 770 edited by Mike Glyer
PLOKTA edited by Alison Scott, Steve Davies, & Mike Scott

Best Fan Writer

Chris Garcia
David Langford
Cheryl Morgan
John Scalzi
Steven H Silver

Best Fan Artist

Brad Foster
Teddy Harvia
Sue Mason
Steve Stiles
Taral Wayne

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Science Fiction Writer

An award for the best new writer whose first work of science fiction or fantasy appeared during 2006 or 2007 in a professional publication. Sponsored by Dell Magazines.

Joe Abercrombie (2nd year of eligibility)
Jon Armstrong (1st year of eligibility)
David Anthony Durham (1st year of eligibility)
David Louis Edelman (2nd year of eligibility)
Mary Robinette Kowal (2nd year of eligibility)
Scott Lynch (2nd year of eligibility)

The text of the accompanying press release reads:

Denvention 3, the 66th World Science Fiction Convention, is pleased to announce the ballot for the Hugo Awards, also known as the Science Fiction Achievement Awards.  Nominations were made by the members of last years World Science Fiction Convention, held in Yokohama, and this year’s, to be held in Denver.  Members of the 2008 convention will have until July 1, 2008, to vote on this ballot.  Winners will be announced and trophies awarded at Denvention’s Hugo Awards Ceremony, Saturday, August 9.

The voting is conducted by mail and online.  Ballots will be included in the next Progress Report to be mailed by the Convention in early April.  The online ballot will be available at www.Denvention.org/hugos in the near future. Only people who are members Denvention 3 can vote, but memberships may be obtained at the same site.  A supporting membership is $50US and an attending membership is $200US.  Either membership can vote on the Hugos, but only an attending membership will have the fun of being in Denver for 5 days of non-stop science fiction.

This year’s ballot has a couple of interesting features.  It is the first year we have asked artists to submit citations for works published in the year in question, 2007 in this case.  We hope this will help our membership make interesting and informed choices.

The Dramatic Presentation categories are often a challenge to administrate and this year was no different.  The television show Battlestar Galactica released two versions of the episode “Razor”, one shown on tv and a longer version available only on DVD.  The Short Form version received enough nominations to make the ballot in that category; the Long Form version did not receive enough nominations to make the ballot.

We also have the entire first season of the television show Heroes nominated in the Long Form category.  This is unusual, but the nominators evidently felt that it was one long multi-part story whose parts did not stand alone.  That makes it eligible as a whole in the year in which the last part appeared, which was 2007.

One writer who received enough ballots to appear on the Campbell Award section of the ballot was determined to be ineligible.  Two categories had ties resulting in a larger number of nominees than usual.

Update: 3/22/2008: Corrected Chabon title to “Policemen’s” per Hugo Administrator.

Kids, Don’t Try This at Home

Obviously with WordPress, I write an individual post and the software does everything else. So I’m prepared to struggle with the code in an individual post — using an unfamiliar language, the way I did in freshman Russian. What escapes me is which little bit is suddenly italicizing the text in every subsequent post on the page. It seems as if I shouldn’t be able to wreck the whole page…

2008 Ursa Major Awards Finalists

Fred Patten, Corresponding Secretary of the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association, sends along the finalists for their Ursa Major Awards, presented annually for excellence in the furry arts. This is Anthropomorphic (a.k.a. Furry) Fandom’s highest award.

The final ballot at the award’s website, http://www.ursamajorawards.org/Voting-form-2007.htm, provides URL links to every nominee that has one, which appears to be the majority. Voting is open until April 20. Registration is required to vote, but only name and country of residence are required. The Awards will be announced and presented at Morphicon 2008 in Columbus, Ohio on May 16 – 18.

The full list of nominees appears below the cut

Continue reading

Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)

Sir Arthur C. Clarke

Andrew Porter and Bjo Trimble send word that Sir Arthur C. Clarke has died. “He was a lovely man,” wrote Bjo. “He will be sorely missed even by those who never visited Sri Lanka to dive with him.”

 

The SFWA News site’s report reminded that Clarke was the final living member of “The Big Three” of science fiction. Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov formed the rest of a trio of writers known for their unexcelled imaginations and groundbreaking stories.

 

Michael Capobianco, SFWA President, observed, “[Clarke] was looking very frail during the videocast he sent out for his 90th birthday, considerably worse than during the Cassini flyby of the enigmatic moon Iapetus just a few months earlier, so I suppose it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. But somehow his longevity seemed part of his image, mixing the real and the science fictional, and his death seems strange and inappropriate.”

 

The Associated Press report added: 

“Sometimes I am asked how I would like to be remembered,” Clarke said recently. “I have had a diverse career as a writer, underwater explorer and space promoter. Of all these, I would like to be remembered as a writer.”

Clarke’s office announced he had recently reviewed the final manuscript of his latest novel. The Last Theorem, co-written with Frederik Pohl, which will be published later this year.

 

Clarke was 1956 Worldcon (NyCon II) Guest of Honor. His other honors include multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, Heinlein Award, having an asteroid named after him, induction in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, Grand Master of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Knight Bachelor, and Sri Lanka’s highest civilian award. Several awards are named in his honor.

Footnote to Fanhistory

Before Mapquest, fans depended on Kevin Standlee’s feet.

In 1993, people going to the Worldcon wanted to know how far their hotels were from the Moscone Center. The ConFrancisco committee told them how many blocks, told them how many linear feet, and still had to admit “neither measurements have satisfied many people.”

Having made the admission, Kevin Standlee realized the only other thing he could do was personally pace off routes from the hotels to the Moscone entrance. He counted his steps and published the results under the title “ConFrancisco – Step by Step.” Fandom learned, for example, that the Parc 55 was 968 Standlees from the convention center, a Standlee being the length of a stride by a man 6’3″ tall, or about a meter. The Standlee became part of the fannish lexicon, and Leah Zeldes Smith wrote that the term deserved to be in the next Fancyclopedia.

Not very many fans have been immortalized by having their names attached to a unit of measurement. Two others I can name off the top of my head are both NESFAns.

According to the NESFA Bureau of Standards, a “Drew” is “the unit of displacement needed to move Drew Whyte from Boston to Cambridge.” Volunteers from the club, er, I mean the NESFA Displacement Authority, required five trucks about 20 feet long, packed absurdly tightly, to shift all or Drew’s stuff to his new home.

Another time, Mark Olson told a NESFA business meeting that new bookshelf extensions had been installed and in the process people had coined a new measurement — “the Paula.” The new shelves were three Paulas high.

You would expect such ideas to appeal to NESFAns, having the example before them of MIT’s Oliver Smoot, a fraternity member who was laid end to end (wasn’t that every frat boy’s dream in 1963?) to measure the length of the Mass. Ave. bridge. Today, Google Earth allows users the option of measuring distances in Smoots. And, of course, the image of Smoot on the Mass. Ave. bridge was celebrated at the Noreascon 4 Opening Ceremonies.

Harlan Ellison Interview on Salon

Andrew O’Hehir has posted to his Salon blog an interview with Harlan Ellison, who he observes “occupies a peculiar place in modern literary history, and he’s nearly as well known for his explosive temper and his confrontations with editors, TV and movie producers, fellow writers and fans as for his many collections of genre-defying short fiction.” The occasion for the interview is the documentary movie about Ellison, Dreams With Sharp Teeth.

Getting to Alpha Centauri

Anti-matter engines, Bussard ramjets, particle beam accelerators, atom-bomb propulsion, light-sails: are they science fiction or emerging technologies? Geoffrey Landis, NASA physicist and SF writer, and Jordin Kare, advanced space systems consultant (and filksinger!), discuss ideas for reaching Alpha Centauri in an article posted by SPACE.com.

And Yahoo offers a video of a quick trip to Alpha Centauri.